South America: Andes (Geographic Keyword)
976-1,000 (1,096 Records)
Archaeologists have long been fascinated with the exploitation and exchange of Spondylus spp. across the ancient world. This is especially true for the Andes, where the "thorny oyster" has been found far afield from its tropical breeding sites along the coasts of Ecuador and northern Peru. However, factors such as the uneven development of archaeology between Peru and Ecuador and the persistence of certain myths about Andean Spondylus have led to a "black-boxing" effect where exchange from...
A Thousand Years of Wetland Management at Hacienda Zuleta in the Ecuadorian Andes (2023)
This is an abstract from the "2023 Fryxell Award Symposium: Papers in Honor of Timothy Beach Part II" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Nestled within a deeply incised valley in the eastern cordillera of the Andes, the archaeological site of Zuleta is an immensely humanized hydrologic landscape. A complex network of perennially and seasonally wet streams and canals crisscross the pastures along the valley floor carrying water from the paramo to the...
Three Case Studies of Andean Metalworking (2018)
The history of South American metalworking still presents a number of unresolved questions, despite decades of archaeological and historical research. This is especially true for the Andean region, where in prehistoric times alloys of copper as well as precious metals were crafted into intricate objects. Here, analytical metallographic techniques such as scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and infra-red (IR) spectroscopy are used to investigate different aspects of...
Three-Dimensional Photogrammetric Modeling of Ceramic Whole Vessels from Pachacamac, Peru: Challenges, Considerations, and Applications (2018)
In recent years, photogrammetry has emerged as a low-cost solution for the digital preservation of archaeological sites and artifacts. Beyond preservation, the creation of three-dimensional models allows archaeologists and researchers to ask questions of objects or sites remotely and at more refined scales. It also allows sites or active excavations and objects not on display to be accessible to the public. Whole ceramic vessels from Max Uhle’s 1897 excavations at Pachacamac, curated at the Penn...
Through the Forest: North-South Interregional and Intraregional Interaction along the Eastern Edge of the Andes during the Early Intermediate Period (2018)
This paper will examine the intensification of long distance intraregional interaction networks among eastern slope (also known as ceja de selva) populations during the late Early Horizon and Early Intermediate Period. The centuries following the decline of the Chavín and Chorrera cultures are thought to represent a period of balkanization and (eventual) regionalization throughout much of the Central and Northern Andean coastal and highland valleys as previously established interregional...
The Ties That Bind (and Break): Persistence and Upheaval in the Post-Chavín Landscapes of the Carabamba Plateau and Moche/Virú Chaupiyungas (2024)
This is an abstract from the "After the Feline Cult: Social Dynamics and Cultural Reinvention after Chavín" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Following the dusk of Chavín, the traditional narrative for the Virú and Moche Valleys—as well as many parts of the Northern Andes—has been one of conflict and upheaval. Though the late Early Horizon (~500–200 BCE) and Early Intermediate period (~200 BCE–600 CE) landscapes in these areas surely saw an explosion...
Time May Change Heritage, but We Can Trace Time: Changes in the Archaeological Heritage of the Cañete Valley (Peru) between the1960s and Today (2023)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Cultural heritage worldwide is at immediate risk, ranging from minor damage to the complete disappearance of archaeological sites. The causal factors underlying risk increase include human environmental impacts, such as urban expansion and agricultural growth. This problem is critical in Peru, where the Ministry of Culture has identified the existence of...
The Timespace of the Pre-Hispanic City of Cerro de Oro (2018)
This work uses the concept of timespace (Schatzki 2010) to follow the construction and habitation of the prehispanic city of Cerro de Oro within the lower Cañete valley between ca. 500-900 AD. The concept of timespace assumes that the temporality and spatiality of the social are considered as intertwined elements that form the dynamic infrastructure where social phenomena such as power, social organization or coordinated action are constituted. ...
Tiwanaku Pastoralism, Highland Bofedales, and Grasslands in Far Southern Peru: Creating a Strontium Baseline and Isoscape to Understand Cultural Connections (2019)
This is an abstract from the "Exploring Culture Contact and Diversity in Southern Peru" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Camelid pastoralism was an economic mainstay of the Tiwanaku Empire (~AD 600-1000). Communities of colonists in Moquegua, Peru were connected to their Tiwanaku capital near Lake Titicaca through an informal trade route traversing the altiplano. One component of Tiwanaku hegemony involved the movement of goods via llama caravans...
To Build a Mountain and Raise a People: Making and Inhabiting an Inka God’s House (Wanakawre, Cuzco, Peru) (2023)
This is an abstract from the "Humble Houses to Magnificent Monuments: Papers in Honor of Jerry D. Moore" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Over the past three decades, anthropological archaeologists have engaged in a vibrant interdisciplinary conversation about the production of space. Rejecting earlier viewpoints that saw social space as the passive product of cultural worldview or political strategy, archaeologists developed innovative approaches...
To Spin and Whorl: Functional and Symbolic Associations of Chancay Weaving Tools (2019)
This is an abstract from the "Textile Tools and Technologies as Evidence for the Fiber Arts in Precolumbian Societies" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Archaeological sources suggest that textiles from Chancay culture (ca. 1000-1470), occupying the central coastal region of Peru, were produced in large quantities. While they are ubiquitous in collections all over the world, they remain to be systematically studied, as do the tools that were used to...
To walk in order to remember… and to dominate: Inca Roads and Hegemonic Processes in Jauja, Central Highlands of Peru (2018)
Previous research on the Inca road system have generally developed functionalist perspectives on their associated characteristics and infrastructure, inherited in several cases from procesualist approaches that focused primarily on their economic and military role. However, more recent studies on the nature of the Inca state have varied substantially, granting an outstanding importance to ideology and religion as mechanisms of domination. Based on these considerations, this paper presents an...
To Wear or to Trade: Analyzing Bone Pendant Artifacts from the Peruvian Montaña (2019)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. In the montaña, the forested eastern slopes and adjacent upper Amazon, inhabitants were involved in regional and interregional trade networks connecting the Andes and Amazon. Given that material correlates for often ephemeral lowland goods are difficult to recover archaeologically worked bone artifacts are an important piece of data indexing lowland...
*Todas las cremas: Shifting Landscapes of Mobility on the Far Southern Coast of Peru (AD 1000–1920) (2021)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2021: General Sessions" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Recent field work in Tacna (far southern Peru) by a joint team from Princeton and Washington University in St. Louis has investigated the long-term landscape history of the Sama Valley and its desert margins. Located between the research hotspots of Moquegua and Arica, the Sama Valley has long been overlooked. At the same time, it is well positioned to offer...
Tom Dillehay's Contributions to Agricultural Origins and Development (2023)
This is an abstract from the "Dedication, Collaboration, and Vision, Part II: Papers in Honor of Tom D. Dillehay" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Tom Dillehay’s best-known research is probably his pioneering work at Monte Verde, Chile, which was primary in upending the “Clovis First” paradigm for the initial peopling of the Americas. Perhaps less well known is his research in Peru that provided crucial information on the age, location, settlement...
Tombs as Evidence for Religious Diversity in the Late Prehispanic Sacred Valley, Peru (ca. 1000–1532 CE) (2024)
This is an abstract from the "Beyond the Ancestors: New Approaches to Andean "Open Sepulchers"" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. This paper articulates a novel approach to prehispanic Andean funerary architecture that interprets differences in materiality and temporality as evidence for distinct religious traditions. I analyze a sample of 845 tombs throughout the Sacred Valley, Peru, and adjacent tributary valleys, built and used during the Late...
Tools Present and Tools Absent in Textile-intensive Mortuary Contexts: the Paracas Case (2019)
This is an abstract from the "Textile Tools and Technologies as Evidence for the Fiber Arts in Precolumbian Societies" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. In most of the world ancient fabrics are not preserved, though much can be learned about garment systems, surface design and production techniques through tools, accessories and contemporary imagery. The Andean desert coast and mortuary traditions provide extraordinary conditions for textile...
Toward a Holistic Understanding of Marine Ecosystems in the South Central Andes: An Interdisciplinary Marine Invertebrate Biodiversity/Zooarchaeological Survey (2023)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Maritime adaptations play an essential role in the central Andean past as far back as the region’s earliest occupation. While economically useful molluscan species are well known by archaeologists, other invertebrates are inadequately understood due to poor preservation and/or lack of interest. This poster presents the preliminary results of a biodiversity...
Toward an Epidemiological Model of Sarcoptic Mange among Andean Camelids (2021)
This is an abstract from the "Current Zooarchaeology: New and Ongoing Approaches" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Sarcoptic mange is a highly infectious, zoonotic disease endemic to modern Andean camelid populations. Severe infection can result in the loss of wool and death of the animal. Rapid spread can lead to significant economic losses and population instability. Despite widespread awareness and preventative measures taken by modern camelid...
Tracing Interaction Networks in a Mosaic of Politico-Geographical Regions at the Site of Wimba, Amazonas, Peru (2018)
The ecological setting and the political formations located in the Ceja de Selva raise unique terminological and conceptual questions for the study of interaction networks. Specifically, how do we best recreate meaningful "archaeological regions" within a mosaic of ecological zones and groups with poorly known culture histories? Presenting results from the Proyecto Arqueológico Wimba – 2016, this paper analyzes the chronological development of the Wimba site within the Ceja de Selva of eastern...
Tracing Relationships over Time: Models of Exchange in the Greater Ica Region during the Paracas-Nasca Transition (2021)
This is an abstract from the "Developments through Time on the South Coast of Peru: In Memory of Patrick Carmichael" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Research on the "Paracas Necropolis" textile assemblage from the Necropolis of Wari Kayan and comparisons with contemporary artifacts has led to the development of models of artifact production and uses (*chaîne opératoire), with evident implications for models of the social relations of production....
Tracing Sixteenth-Century Beads in South America to Understand Their Impact on Indigenous Ritual Practices and Material Culture at the Time of the Spanish Conquest (2018)
Studying beads and changes in use of beads in a given population provide insight into the impact of outside influences on people in a given population. This research identifies bead types that were valued by indigenous cultures in South America prior to the Spanish Conquest in the Sixteenth-Century, and compares their frequency in six geographic regions within Peru, Ecuador, Venezuela, and Colombia with the frequency of glass beads brought by the Spanish to the same regions. This study examines...
Tracking 1,600 Years of Ceramic Technology at Prehispanic Jecosh (Ancash, Peru) (2019)
This is an abstract from the "Cross-Cultural Petrographic Studies of Ceramic Traditions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. How do ebbs and flows in regional trade relations affect village level practices of pottery production? We assess this question by tracking variability and continuity in ceramic technological traditions at the site of Jecosh, located in the Callejón de Huaylas of Ancash, Peru. Recent excavations of domestic and mortuary...
Tradition and Transformation during the Middle Horizon to LIP Transition: Visual and Compositional Analyses of Tumilaca and Estuquiña Pottery in the Moquegua Valley, Peru (2018)
In many Andean regions, the shift from the Middle Horizon to the Late Intermediate Period, or LIP, is archaeologically identified by stylistic changes. In the Moquegua valley, southern Peru, LIP (ca. AD 1250-1476) Estuquiña architecture and portable material culture is starkly different from that associated with terminal Middle Horizon (ca. AD 950-1200) Tumilaca populations. Until recently Tumilaca settlements were thought to have been completely abandoned prior to the appearance of Estuquiña...
A Traditional Approach to Analyzing Stunted Femoral Growth in Peruvian Highlands (2018)
Minimal research has been done on observing whether there have been incidences of stunted growth in populations, in times of environmental stress and social turmoil. One such example are the populations found during the Late Intermediate Period (~AD 1000-1400, LIP) in the South-Central Peruvian highlands. Utilizing Buikstra and Ubelaker’s Standards, nine measurements were taken on the femora of 37 individuals (N=37) from the sites of Sonhuayo, Masumachay, and Mina Cachilhuancaray in the...